In this litigious society, even a police chase after a criminal can prove dangerous to the municipality, which sponsors the police department. Such a high speed police chase sometimes causes injury to the pursuing police officer, or an innocent bystander, in addition to the offending motorist or other criminal.
Not only does an innocent party suffer improperly, he or she can also suffer substantial injuries for merely being at the wrong place at the wrong time. This problem has become so severe that a number of states are even restricting high speed police chases by statute.
From both a military and civilian standpoint, it can be desirable to disable a vehicle, in a simple fashion without creating a danger to the surrounding area. Various known electronic devices are most ineffective. These devices can flatten tires or disable engines.
Known devices exist which can flatten or incapacitate a vehicle tire. If this occurs at a high speed, the driver may lose control of the vehicle. An uncontrolled vehicle is extremely dangerous. Whether the tire flattening device is electronically or mechanically actuated, it is highly desirable to disable the vehicle and incapacitate the escape mechanism without this danger of losing control of the vehicle.
Local, state, and federal police agencies are especially concerned with reducing or eliminating high speed pursuits or target vehicles because of the potentially disastrous effects on public and/or private property and the personal welfare of non-involved third parties. In addition to the almost unacceptable chance of hurting an innocent party, the financial costs thereof can be immense.
It is always desired to minimize the dangers inherent in a police pursuit. If the dangers can be minimized, the dangers to innocent bystanders as well as to the police car and pursued vehicle can also be minimized. Furthermore, it is extremely useful if this can be done with an inexpensive device without causing severely damage to the vehicle.
There are devices known which short circuit the electronics of a modern computer controlled vehicle. However, these devices cannot work on the older model vehicle, which is not computer controlled. This device also makes it difficult to repair the vehicle being pursued. It is desired to more simply halt the vehicle without creating great danger or property damage.
Tire deflating devices are known to do this. However, these devices suffer from positioning and other problems. It is difficult to position devices to deflate the tires without endangering other cars. Also, an abrupt blowout can create a hazard to the vehicle being pursued. Thus, if the tire deflation is desired, it is useful to deflate them in a relatively safe manner. Accordingly, efforts must be made in this behalf.
An additional problem is that a deflating device is difficult to handle safely. Safe handling requires some way of storing the spikes in a deflating device until it is desired to deflate a tire. From that stored position, it is desired to deploy the spikes as efficiently as possible. These factors are so contradictory, that to maximize one requirement of safety reduces the efficiency when deployed.